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Apple Officially Releases iOS 11.3 with New Battery Tools and Much More

Apple on Thursday has officially released iOS 11.3 to the general public, a day after launching it exclusively for the new iPad. And it’s a release you’re going to want to download.

While not a major iOS redesign, iOS 11.3 is packed with important and useful new features. Chief among them are the promised battery health and power management control capabilities, but there are also a ton of other additions, bug fixes and improvements.

The menu will display your iPhone’s current battery capacity compared to its original charge, as well as whether or not your iPhone’s performance is being throttled due to that battery capacity.

On devices with a degraded battery that have unexpectedly shut down, iOS will automatically enable the controversial power management feature that throttles performance. But in iOS 11.3, users will be able to disable the feature to prioritize performance over mitigating shutdowns.

New Animoji and ARKit

iOS 11.3 adds four new Animoji characters, including a dragon, lion, skull and bear.

On a similar note, the update introduces a new version of ARKit, 1.5, that allows developers to better place digital objects on vertical and horizontal surfaces, among other improvements and capabilities.

Business Chat and Health Records

There’s also now an embedded Business Chat feature within Messages that lets users contact and communicate with various companies and businesses, and a new Health Records menu that lets users view important medical documentation in one place. It’s worth noting that both of these features are currently only available in the U.S. and are still in beta, according to the release notes.

Privacy

On the privacy front, Apple has also added a “Privacy icon” that will help mitigate iCloud and Apple ID phishing. iOS 11.3 also adds small tweaks to core apps like the App Store, Safari, Keyboards, News, and Books.

No iMessage in the Cloud or AirPlay 2

Interestingly, there are two notable omissions to iOS 11.3 — at least in the release notes. For one, the notes make no mention of iMessage Storage in iCloud or AirPlay 2. Both features showed up in beta versions of iOS 11.3, but AirPlay 2 was removed from more recent releases.

And, as always, there’s a wide range of various bug fixes, under-the-hood changes and performance improvements — the full list of which you can see below.

How to Download

iOS 11.3 should be available as a free over-the-air download to all iOS users with compatible devices, though it might take a bit to show up on your own device. You can find it in Settings > General > Software Update.

iOS 11.3 Full Release Notes

Augmented Reality

ARKit 1.5 allows developers to place virtual objects on vertical surfaces, such as walls and doors, as well as on horizontal surfaces.

Supports the detection and integration of images, such as movie posters or works, into augmented reality experiences.

The real-world view perceived through the camera has a higher resolution as part of the augmented reality experience.

iPhone Battery Health (Beta)

Displays the maximum capacity and optimal battery performance capability of the iPhone.